Fish carpaccio with 2 pestos and grilled vegs

Colder waters, in this part of the world, mean lots of yellow tail; it's a great fish, totally sustainable and I substitute it as much as I can to marlin, swordfish, mahi and tuna.

  Sierra mackerel and trigger fish are also very viable options, with two totally opposite textures and flavours...very interesting, both.

Start planning your prep:

1) in a baking pan place 2 parts of seeded red bell peppers, 2 parts of tomatoes, 1 part of onion and 1/2 measure of garlic. Froth with olive oil and bake until well done.

2) In the meantime prepare the olive and parsley pesto by blending 3 parts of good black olives, 1 part of flat leaf ( Italian ) parsley, garlic to taste..a lot, in my case, a few capers, evoo ,S&P

3) In a dry skillet toast some nuts,almonds or pumpkin seed and reserve; in the same skillet toast a couple slices of country bread and reserve; lastly toast a couple of guajillo chiles, until they puff, add a generous splash of water, shut the flame and let rest/soak.

4) Grill your choice of vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, peppers, green onions,...) and toss them in a bowl with some balsamic vinegar, chopped garlic, parsley and S&P.Reserve.

When the peppers, onion, tomatoes and garlic are ready place them in a blender along with the seeded guajillo pepper, a good pinch of Spanish paprika ( hot or sweet is up to you...), a splash of sherry or balsamic vinegar, one slice of bread and the nuts.
Start pulsing and add some of the soaking water to help the blender. Once you achieve a nice smooth paste, start adding olive oil till the whole thing turns pretty fluid. Taste for S&P and adjust.

Now you're ready to slice the fish, quite thin but not paper thin and assemble the plate.

Start with the 2 pestos , then the grilled vegs and, lastly, the fish.

I like to add a crunchy element to mine, in the form of baked hot and spicy tortillas strips or , if working with a rectangular or wide plate, extremely thin baguette toasts ( freeze the baguette for 30 min, slice it lenghtwise with a very sharp knife or a slicer, rub with oil and bake..)

As wine pairing goes, well, this is a tricky one  ; )  and I don't really feel like pointing you in any particular direction, even though I would go on a limb and say : "heavier, full bodied and buttery white...".

Enjoy!

Spring is coming...

Thank God February is over..as for as far as I can remember it has been the worst month of the year for me; March is here at last and it started with a good kick in the right direction!
Last Friday night I cooked for 10 beautiful and really fun ladies from the US,; the occasion was a birthday and what follows are some pics of part of the courses taken by my friend and collegue Giulio Lupori ( @Actorando, his Twitter handle).

We started wit a fillet of roasted red pepper rolled around a smoked tuna panzanella, flavoured with Spanish smoked hot paprika and served with a sliver of aged sheep's cheese, as sharp as they come, and a drizzle of 25 y.o. balsamic vinegar.

Next was a light salad of grilled peaches, heirloom tomatoes, basil, mixed greens and dry ricotta that I featured once already on these blog.

The first of the two main courses was this great yellowtail carpaccio

served with a roasted tomato and peppers sauce, on the lines of a Romesco, a black olive and parsley pesto, an assortment of grilled vegetables and spicy hot tortilla crisps.

The lamb barbacoa followed... I tried to give this traditional Mexican lamb dish a little contemporary twist and I think I pulled it off.

The lamb has been cooked in the traditional barbacoa style but I choosed to sear it a bit before serving it. It caame atop roasted poblano peppers tortillas, with a puree of the chickpeas it's been cooking with, some smashed avocado and a reduction of its own stock.

On the side we served a little salad of grilled new nopales and red onion lightly pickled in sherry vinegar.

The dessert was a little spicy chocolate number with a spicier tequila creme anglaise.

The event was a round success and a great time was had by all...yours grumpy truly as well....

Left to right: Giulio, CookAndTheFly, Lupita

Recipes will follow, starting tomorrow...

From the Land of Mañana,

Ciao,

E.  : )

Eggplant & goat's cheese pinchos with balsamic raisin & pumpkinseed pesto

This cute little thing is one of thye most requested items in my menus.
It's a great addition to any cocktail party or tapas spread.

Start by slicing the eggplants lenghtwise and placing them on an oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the slices with S&P.
Roast in a medium hot oven until the edges start getting some colour and the eggplant turns tender.
Delicately remove the slices from the baking sheet whilst still warm and let them cool off.

While the eggplant cools, work on the pesto.
In a blender, or robot, place Italian parsley, fresh mint,pumpkinseed, raisin, a bit of chili flakes, garlic to taste, 1 part of balsamic vinegar, 3 parts of the best olive oil and blend/pulse until you'll have a quite coarse but fluid product. Season with salt and pepper and adjust with a bit of sugar and more vinegar as needed.
You'll want to achieve a balance between the herbs and the sweetness of the raisin ... you'll know whn you'll get it right.

Next, smear a bit of room temperature goat's cheese( a soft one, like a Montrachet...) and a tiny bit of the pesto on the eggplant slices; roll'em up and secure with a skewer ( or, if you feel really fancy, with a thime sprig...) and place on serving plate. Make the pinchos look nice and drizzle liberally with the pesto.
Enjoy your success!